Individuals using various hair curling methods are well aware of their drawbacks, especially when users install their own curiers. The curiers are hot, causing discomfort to the hands and even burning of the hair or scalp, especially in externally heated curiers. Clamping the hair to the curiers and retaining the curler in the desired position is often difficult, especially if the roller surface is slippery or if the clamping mechanism for the curler is complicated or cumbersome.
Many curler designs have been disclosed to address these difficulties. Some designs employ rigid plastic curiers with combing spikes to aid in curling and holding the hair. Most of these designs employ separate clips to retain the curiers in place once they have been set. These designs suffer the drawback of having to locate separate parts during use as well as having to store the clips.
Another popular design employs a flexible body of smooth plastic which can be wrapped into a ring and one end inserted into a hole on the other side. This design lacks rigidity making it difficult to roll the hair onto the body. It also suffers the drawbacks of limited adjustment range and difficulty inserting the end in the hole, especially when users are curling their own hair. This design is also externally heated, resulting in the wrapping surface being the hottest surface which increases the discomfort of applying the curiers and may scorch the hair or burn the scalp.
An object of this invention is to provide a curler which is rigid enough to curl the hair easily, yet can be wrapped into a ring shape to clamp the hair and curler in place.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an integral means to clamp a large or small amount of hair to provide for differences in hair styles, hair length and hair thickness.
Another object of the invention is to provide a highly resilient curling surface to improve grip and ease the curling operation.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hair curler which can be used with a steaming, moisturizing or conditioning heating unit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means for internal heating of the curler to limit the curling surface temperature, improving the comfort to the user and reducing the possibility of burning the hair.